Marco Noontime Gives Our Daily Bread Food Pantry $68,000 Donation

A generous check for $68,000 was presented to Our Daily Bread Food Pantry at the Rotary Club of Marco Noontime’s Evening Installation Banquet on June 16th. The funds were raised in a cash call honoring ODBFP as a Spirit Award winner during the Rotary Spirit Awards Gala on April 30th at Bistro Soleil.

Amanda Nelson, Executive Director for Our Daily Bread Food Pantry (ODBFP) said it all. “We are so appreciative of the deep support of the Marco Island Noontime Rotary Club for this significant check. The number of people coming to us for food is growing substantially each week. These funds will help these many hundreds that we feed through our Saturday pantry, mobile outreaches, school and camp programs and Lunch with Friends.”

According to Liz Pecora, Vice President of ODBFP, “with the cost of housing, food and transportation rising at record rates, families are turning to ODBFP once again to help close the food gap in their budgets. Households served have increased at an average of about 5% each month for the past ten months. ODBFP is feeding record numbers of families today, even higher than the huge volumes seen in early 2021 when Covid was at its peak.”

Pecora sees no letup in this demand growth. If the current pace of new families turning to ODBFP for assistance continues at this pace 50% more households will be served this year versus a planned 20% increase. This brings strong challenges in finding the financial resource to address the demand.

According to the latest statistics, during the summer months, households with children have higher rates of food insecurity because more people are at home and have fewer resources without school lunches. Families also tend to rely on cheaper, less healthy foods to stretch their budgets.

Our Daily Bread Food Pantry is open to residents of Collier County on Saturday between 9:00 AM and 12:00 PM. The Pantry is 1450 Winterberry Drive between the Family Church of Marco and the ball fields. Please enter on Auburndale Avenue.

Each week Al’s Pals mobile pantry goes on several locations rain or shine to serve individuals with limited mobility or who are unable to attend the weekly Saturday Pantry Day at the Winterberry location. 

Senior Lunch (Lunch with Friends). Once a month, the Pantry and the YMCA of Collier County invites our neighbors sixty (60) years old or older to Lunch with Friends at Marco Island Lutheran Church. Lunch with Friends takes place the third Wednesday of the month from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM.

Every month, the Pantry provides a nutritionally balanced box of canned fruits and vegetables, grains, protein, other nonperishable food and additional items as needed for the elderly through The Harry Chapin Food Bank Care and Share supplemental food program.